2008: The Directors and Writers Thread

[MarkH]

No, I have no judgment about Hogan. His track record at two previous shows worries me. But Y&R needs *something*, and since he will be under some kind of Bell family control, I think it is a worthwhile EXPERIMENT.

Casiello, though, works well with Sheffer. In Tommiecas' blog, he said that a big problem was that he didn't have senior writers to go to to pick their brains...learn about the characters and the history. This could be remediated if MAB/Sheffer hire some custodians of history. Me, I'd keep Alden/Smith on retainer as consultants.

It may just be that Houghton needed more structure and direction? Or maybe he couldn't bring himself to pen incest stories?

[Khan]

This, plus the fact that HW's tend to bring in their own sub-writers after awhile, convinces me that TC will return to Y&R eventually.

[Sylph]

That seems like a whole lot of mess: two consultants, historians, new writers... I don't think that's what Y&R needs.

For me, GH has the best writing team model (albeit, with an awwwful head writer): 3 breakdown writers, 1 script editor, 5 script writers. Just perfect.

B&B doesn't have a bad model either.

[dm.]

That's definitely better than Y&R: 2 head writers, 6 breakdown writers (or 4+one pair), 9 script writers (or 3+three pairs). That's just toooooo much.

[dm.]

Are there any changes on the Y&R horizon?

And this Jay Gibson wrote a lot of eps. Does it mean he's real or still imagination?

[Sylph]

And Marla Kanelos wrote a whole lot of outlines, too!

[R Sinclair]

Ugh! Marla Kanelos!

[MarkH]

Ah, but by now Guza has a "history" with the show (for the remaining characters, he basically owns most of their history). Y&R can't have new writers with NO link to history. The ignorance of the past has been one of the many "killing factors" of the recent past.

Still, I concede that what you describe sounds like a fine STRUCTURE. But is is CONTENT of the team that we need to wonder about. It is WHO will be on the team that is most intriguing to me. I certainly believe we need some historical representation there.

I mean, when Tom Casiello described having NO ONE TO CALL to answer basic questions about these characters, that was such a shocking revelation. The script writers need someone to call. :-).

In addition, the Bells clearly had some kind of "style book" (whether it was written or not), and deviations from that style book really irritated viewers during the LML era. (I liked the improvements in dialogue,etc...but many did not). So, even if there are subtle evolutions to the style, the team needs a custodian ("editor" or otherwise) of the classic style. Your objections notwithstanding, it appears this Janice Ferri Esser could be a find occupant of the editor role.

[Sylph]

Terrible, terrible, Sinclair, don't ask! I'm glad that at least AMC got rid of her.

[R Sinclair]

Kay Alden said during her lecture last year that all the scripts came back to her (while she was at Y&R) for editing. I don't think, from what she said, that there was a script editor.

[R Sinclair]

Just seeing that name on screen made me gag almost as hard as I did when I saw that horrid combination of

Written by

AMANDA L. BEALL

COURTNEY BUGLER

or

REBECCA TAYLOR

I miss Michelle Patrick, Karen Lewis and script editor Mimi Leahey who did a MUCH better job editing scripts than Jeff Beldner.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Objections? You know that would make Sylph's day.

[Sylph]

In this regard, how come TC is a member of "writers who know Y&R's history" group?

Well, we first have to establish the structure. I started a thread on Y&R writing team, and I think I've got a handful of (unsatisfactory) replies. I haven't yet figured it out as to who would be Y&R's dialogue writers, but it might happen soon.

See - I don't believe this. If a writer he wanted to call didn't write for Y&R at the time, he still could have called him/her. If there is a will, there is a way. Besides, I don't think the piece of info he wanted would have changed the episode he was writing dramatically.

The style book existed, but it wasn't a book.

And John PiRoman?

And Y&R didn't have the traditional SE. It certainly wasn't NMS.

[brimike]

He's said in a few interviews that Sara Bible, Natalie Minardi Slater, Janice Ferri Esser and Kay Alden were always there for him to talk about characters. Seems more like they were all trying to make sense out of the "show" (and I use that term loosely) LML was trying to create. 24 hours to write an episode about Judaism and Epilepsy?! That's a bit much for anybody.

I still don't think he's on his way to Y&R. Besides, with Nelson Branco dragging him into every sordid drama he gets into with CBS, the guy probably isn't too high on Bloom's list right now. And I just get the vibe that he's happier now as a "fan".

[MarkH]

Yes, he did mention being able to talk to some of these people.

Hopefully Bloom has the intelligence to separate TC from Branco. If she doesn't...well...that's another sign that she may not be right for the job. More importantly, does Bloom really have that level of say-so? Can she really determine who gets a breakdown job at Y&R?

You say TC is happier as a "fan". But we all have to pay the rent, no?